Packaging press



Jan. 1

W. L. DAVIS PACKAGING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed'Deo. 17, 1949 s w a m a W W I 4 WM W r if :w v vww gv Jan. 13, 1953 w. L. DAVIS 2,625,310

PACKAGING PRESS Filed D60. 17, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 13, 1953 w. DAVIS 2,625,310

PACKAGING PRESS Filed Dec. 17, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Jan. 13, 1953 PACKAGING PRESS William L. Davis, Savannah, Ga., assignor to Union Bag & Paper Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 17, 1949, Serial No. 133,615

4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in packaging. More particularly it pertains to a bag press for compressing and packaging stacked paper bags in a wrapper or other suitable container.

A general object of the present invention is to provide a packaging machine which will receive and compress paper bags in stacked relation, insert the compressed stack into a wrapper, and deliver from the machine a neat and compact package.

More specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide a bag press having a receptacle for receiving paper bags in stacked relation, a press plate and means for compressing the stacked bags in the receptacle, said receptacle and press plate being constructed and adapted to receive a wrapper encircling said receptacle, plate and stacked compressed bags,

a kicker plate and means for ejecting said bags and wrapper from the receptacle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a packaging machine which is simple to operate, sturdy and durable of construction and well suited to the purposes for which it is intended.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the bag press of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a corresponding front elevation with part of the front door broken away;

Figure 3 is an enlarged front view of the bag receptacle, partly in section, showing the kicker plate and trap door mechanism;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 2 with the guide bar mount and guide bars omitted to show the kicker plate and bumper shafts fastened to such plate;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an enlarged front view of the bag receptacle, partly in section, showing the stacked bags under compression with a wrapper encircling the receptacle and press plate;

Figure '7 is a side view of the door lock and door trip arm;

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure 4 showing the valve safety trip;

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view on the line 99 of Figure 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1 a frame member H door hinge shaft 2!.

to which the various parts of the bag press are attached. This frame member may be secured to a suitable pedestal or stand to bring the press up to a height at which it will be convenient for the operator to insert bags. In addition, the bag press can be mounted at an angle so that the bag receptacle will be tilted toward the back and to the left to permit the bags to be stacked without falling from the receptacle.

Secured to the frame member I l are right side plate I2, left side plate l3, and lower press plate l4 (see Figure 3), these plates constituting three sides of the lower portion of a bag receptacle. The bottom edges of the side plates are welded to the edges of the plate I 4 to form a rigid structure. The kicker plate l5 makes up the back side of this portion of the bag receptacle. The upper portion of the bag receptacle is enclosed by the upper left side plate l6 and guide rods ll. These rods are held to the frame at their bottom ends by guide bar mount I8 and at their top ends by the presser cylinder mount I9. The upper and lower portions of the bag receptacle are covered by a door 20.

Referring to Figure 2 it will be seen that the door 20 is made up of a plate 20a and angle members 20b, which are screwed to the plate and serve to brace the door where it meets the bag receptacle and at the top and bottom edges. This door is screwed to a door hinge shaft 2! rotatably mounted in upper and lower angle supports 22 and 23 attached to the frame member H. The door is provided with clips 24 which fit against the outside of plates l2 and I3 when the door is closed over the receptacle. Passing through the vertical door angles 20b is a door lock shaft 25 (see Figure 4) which is held in place at the one end by a plate screwed into the shaft and at the other end by a door lock 26 pinned to the shaft. The door lock mechanism is shown more fully in Figure 7 The door lock is provided with a pin 21 projecting from each side of the door lock. One end of this pin cooperates with a recess I2b in a strip l2a aiiixed to the top edge of plate l2 and the other end has secured to it a spring 28, which is held to the door frame by pin 29. The spring holds the door lock down and the pin in the recess thus keeping the door locked against the front of the bag receptacle. When the door trip arm 30, mounted on the upper press plate 3|, moves downwardly against the curved edge of the door lock, it presses the door lock outward and lifts the pin 21 from the recess in the plate l2, rew leasing the door and permitting it to swing open.

To make the door swing open when it is re-' leased, as described above, it is provided with a conventional door check 32 (see Figure 5) which pulls the door open approximately and serves (as a shock absorber to stop it at that position. The rod 33 from the door check is pivotally attached to a. bracket 34 which is screwed to the A strap hinge 35 holds the door check to the plate l3. It has been found that this door check can be dispensed with if the bag press is mounted in a position tilted at an angle approximately 17 to the left of vertical and 17 backward. This not only serves to prevent the stacked bags from falling out of the bag receptacle when the door is open, but also results in the door falling open by itself when the door trip arm strikes the door lock. In the latter case it is only necessary to provide a stop on the door hinge shaft t prevent the door from swinging open too far.

Figure 1 further shows an air cylinder 36 bolted to mounts i 9 and 31, which are in turn screwed to the frame 1 i. The air cylinder shaft 38 has a top bumper plate 39, top bumper 40 and lower bumper 4|. Attached to the lower end of the shaft 38 is the U-shaped upper press plate 3|. This press plate is provided with two holes through which pass the guide rods H, thus allowing the press plate to slide up and down on these rods. Affixed to the back end of the upper press plate 3! is an angle iron 52 which acts to release thevalve safety trip, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The assembly for ejecting the bags and wrapper from the bag receptacle is shown in Figures 3 and 4. The kicker plate 15 is bolted to the shaft 43 of an air cylinder M which is affixed to the frame H. It will be noted that the upper edge of the kicker plate has two cut-out portions which permit the face of the plate to line up flush with the forward edges of the guide rods (I (see Figure 5). A three sided pusher 45 for moving the wrapper off the bag receptacle at the same time the stacked bags are ejected is made up of angle irons 45a and 45?) joined by a flat cross piece 450 secured to the angle irons. The upper ends of the angle irons are screwed to the top of the kicker plate l5 so that the kicker plat-e, moving inside the bag receptacle, and the pusher, moving outside the bag receptacle, operate as a single unit. To furnish rigidity to the pusher and insure simultaneous movement of the kicker plate and pusher, there are two guide shafts 46 aifixed to each side of the pusher. These four guide shafts are bolted to a guide plate 41. In addition there are four bumper shafts 43 .aifixed to the kicker plate, tw being above and two below the air cylinder 44. These four bumper shafts are likethe guide and bumper shafts are affixed to the 5::

pusher and kicker plate. Referring to Figures 1 and 4, the guide and bumper shafts pass through and are supported by upper and lower plates 50 which are screwed to the frame i I. The guide plate ll also has bolted to it a pair of compression springs and 52, which actuate the pistons in a pair of valves 53 and 54. It will be seen that the assembly for ejecting the bags and wrapper from the bag receptacle is so construoted that the kicker plate, pusher, guide shafts, bumper shafts, guide plate and compression springs all cooperate to move as a unit.

The valves 53 and 54, screwed to a valve mount 55 which is in turn screwed to the frame i I, are conventional four way air valves, each having a hand lever attached by a clevis mount to the piston of the valve. The action of these valves will be described further in explaining the operation of the bag press. ihe piping which connects the valves andair cylinders is shown in Figure 1.

An air line 56 provided with a hand shut-off valve 5! is connected between the valves 53 and 54 and furnishes air pressure to each. A pipe 58 carries air from one side of the valve 53 to the top of the air cylinder 35 while another pipe 59 carries air from the other side of the same valve to the bottom of the air cylinder 36. Similarly pipes 60 and 5| carry air from the valve 54 to the air cylinder 44.

To prevent the operator from pulling the handle of valve 54, which would actuate the air cylinder 44 and the kicker plate l5 and eject the stacked bags, before such bags have been compress-ed by the upper press plate 3|, a valve safety trip has been employed in connection with valve 54. This is shown in Figures 8 and 9 and consists of a plate 62, which is held to the valve mount 55 by shoulder screws 63 threaded into the mount, said screws being set in slots 64 which permit the plate 62 to move up and down along the mount. There is also a slot 65 for the guide shaft 56. lhe base of the mount 55 has a small projection which carries a pin 65. A similar pin 61 extends from the bottom of the plate 62. Between these pins is a spring 68, so that the plate is normally in the position shown by the solid lines of Figures 8 and 9. This plate has a shoulder 89 protruding from the edge of one side, which shoulder fits in behind the clevis mount of the hand lever of valve 54 and prevents movementof the hand lever and piston when the plate 62 is in its normal position (see also Figure 4). When the stacked bags are compressed by the upper press plate 3i, the angle iron 42 affixed to this press plate slides the plate 62 downward and moves the shoulder 59 out of the path of the clevis mount of the hand lever of valve 54, thus allowing the operator to move the said hand lever and actuate the valve. This is shown by the dotted outlines of angle iron 42 and plate 62 in Figure 9.

It will be observed in Figures 3 and 6 that there is a gap between the top of left side plate l3 and the bottom of upper left side plate 16. To close this gap and present a fiat surface along the full inner face of the left side of the bag receptacle when the bags are being stacked, a trap door 10 has been attached by hinges H to the bottom of plate 16. Secured to the back outer face of this trap door is an angle iron 12 one piece of which projects from the door. Linked into a hole in this piece is one end of a spring 73, the other end of the spring being linked to a pin 74 secured in the side plate 13. Secured to the back inner face of this trap door is a triangular piece 15 which is back far enough to be out of the bag receptacle, but is in the path of the back end of the upper press plate 3! when it moves downwardly to compress the stacked bags. For a top view of this piece and its position see Figure 5. A stop lug '56, shown in Figure 1, is welded onto the bottom edge of the trap door. When the bags are being stacked in the bag receptacle the trap door I0, the angle iron 72 and triangular piece 15 are in the ositions shown in Figure 3. After such bags have been compressed by the upper press plate 39, the trap door and its component parts are in the positions shown in Figure 6, thus insuring clearance around all sides of the lower bag receptacle for slipping the tube wrapper 11 over the receptacle.

The operation of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing description. Before the operator puts any bags in the bag receptacle, the door 20 is open, the upper press plate 3! is up, the trap door 10 is closed flat, the kicker plate I 5 is back, and the hand levers of the valves 53 and 54 are pushed back. When the required amount of bags have been stacked in the receptacle, it will be filled virtually up to the upper press plate 3|. The operator then closes the door 20, which is locked in place by the door lock 26, and pulls forward the hand lever of valve 53. At this time the plate 62 of the valve safety trip i in its normal position and it is impossible for the operator to make a mistake and pull the hand lever of the other valve 54. Pulling forward the hand lever of valve 53 actuates the air cylinder 36 and moves the upper press plate downwardly to a predetermined position thus compressing the stacked bags within the lower portion of the bag receptacle. When the upper press plate descends to such position the door trip arm 30 strikes and releases the door lock 26 and opens the door 23, the triangular piece i5 moves the trap door l'il outwardly and out of the way, and the angle iron 42 slides the plate 62 of the valve safety trip downward and out of the path of the clevis mount of the hand lever of valve 54. At this point the bags are confined within the upper and lower press plates and the left and right side plates, so that the operator can slip a tube wrapper around such plates. After this has been done, the hand lever of valve 54 is pulled forward to actuate the air cylinder 44, which causes the kicker plate l5 and pusher to eject the stacked bags and wrapper simultaneously in the form of a neat and compact package. As the kicker plate reaches the end of its forward movement, the compression springs 51 and 52 mounted on the guide plate 41 strike the protruding ends of the pistons of the valve 53 and 54. This actuates the air cylinders 36 and 44 returning the upper press plate 3|, the kicker plate l5 and the other cooperating parts to the positions they had when the cycle was started. The bag press is now ready to receive another stack of bags.

While I have illustrated one particular embodiment of my invention and one particular application thereof, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein and the invention may be very efi'iciently used in the packaging of other products which can be compressed and inserted in a wrapper. Furthermore, although the wrapper referred to herein is in the form of a tube, it will be understood that it may be in the form of a bag, carton or other similar receptacle which will satisfactorily fit on the press of the present inventio and hold compressed products.

It will thus be seen that the objects herein set forth may readily and efliciently be attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A packaging press comprising a lower press plate on which paper bags may be stacked, an upper press plate for compressing the stacked bags, said plates and compressed bags being clear on all four sides for substantially the full length of the bags to receive an encircling Wrapper, a kicker plate and pusher for simultaneously ejecting the compressed bags and encircling wrapper from the press plates, means for actuating the upper press plate, and means for actuating the kicker plate and pusher.

2. A packaging press comprising a receptacle for paper bags in stacked relation, a hinged door adapted to strike and align the edges of the stacked bags and to cover the receptacle while the bags are being compressed, a press plate which compresses the stacked bags, said receptacle and plate compressing the bags being clear on all sides for substantially the full length of the bags to receive an encircling wrapper, a kicker plate and cooperating pusher for ejecting the compressed bags and encircling wrapper from the receptacle and press plate, means for actuating the upper press plate, and means for actuating the kicker plate and pusher.

3. A packaging press comprising a receptacle in which paper bags may be stacked, an upper press plate to compress the stacked bags, controllable means for actuating the press plate, said receptacle and plate while in compressed position being clear on all sides for substantially the full length of the bags to permit an encircling wrapper to be slipped around the receptacle, plate and compressed bags in a predetermined position relative to the length of the bags, a kicker plate and cooperating pusher which eject the compressed bags and encircling wrapper from the receptacle and press plate and retain the bags and wrapper in the said predetermined relative position during the ejectment, and controllable means for actuating the kicker plate and pusher.

4. A packaging press comprising a receptacle in which paper bags may be stacked, a swinging door adapted to close against and align the edges of the stacked bags and to retain the bags within the receptacle while the bags are being compressed, a press plate to compress the stacked bags, means for actuating the press plate, means for swinging the door away from the receptacle after the bags have been compressed, said receptacle and plate while in compressed position being clear on all sides for substantially the full length of the bags to permit an encircling Wrapper to be slipped around the receptacle, plate and compressed bags in a predeterminedposition relative to the length of the bags, a kicker plate and cooperating pusher which eject the compressed bags and encircling Wrapper as a unit retaining the bags and wrapper in the said predetermined relative position during the ejectment, and means for actuating the kicker plate and pusher.

WILLIAM L. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 247,909 Haynes Oct. 4, 1881 981,765 Jagenberg Jan. 17, 1911 2,026,284 Metternich Dec. 31, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8,093 Australia July 4, 1932 

